82 caryophyllXce^e 



with a narrow membranous margin as long as the petals ; petals 

 deeply 2-cleft, or absent ; stamens 3, 5, or 10. — Waste places and 

 as a weed in gardens ; abundant. — Fl. all the year round. 

 Annual. 



3. S. neglecta (Perennial Chickweed). — A more erect, slender, 

 glabrous form, with ovate-acuminate leaves and glabrous sepals. — 

 Shady places ; not common. Perennial. 



4. S. Holbstea (Greater Stitchwort, Satin-flower, or Adder's- 



stellAria hol6stea (Greater Stitchmort). 



meat). Stem 1 — 2 feet high, nearly erect, 4-angled, rough-edged, 

 brittle at the nodes; leaves sessile, narrow, tapering to a long 

 point, ciliate ; flowers few, f in. across, in leafy dichasial cymes, 

 with slender stalks; petals deeply 2 cleft. — Among the most 

 ornamental of our spring flowers, scarcely less conspicuous with 

 its delicate green leaves than its snow-white petals. The stems do 

 not die down to the ground in the winter, as is the case with most 

 herbaceous perennials, but though dead to all appearance, they 

 send out delicate jgreen tufts very early in the year, so that the 



